Wayne Bennett admits he has no idea if he will be coaching Brisbane beyond his current deal

WAYNE Bennett has taken a stunning swipe at the Brisbane board amid revelations the NRL’s greatest coach will have to launch a grand final assault to save his Broncos career.

Coach Wayne Bennett speaks to the media during a press conference following the Brisbane Broncos training session at Red Hill in Brisbane, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. The Broncos play the Cronulla Sharks in their Round 20 match in Brisbane on Friday. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING

WAYNE Bennett has taken a stunning swipe at the Brisbane board amid revelations the NRL’s greatest coach has 10 weeks to save his glittering career at the Broncos.

Bennett’s hopes of one final Broncos contract hinges on his side’s performances over the remainder of the 2018 season – starting against Cronulla at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

The Broncos board will meet again next month on the eve of the NRL finals before Brisbane chief executive Paul White makes a recommendation on Bennett’s future in October.

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Will next season be Bennett’s last in Brisbane? AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

At this stage, Bennett is a dead man walking at Red Hill, with the Broncos board baulking at his proposal for a one-year extension in 2020 with a view to a longer-term coaching director’s role.

Well-placed sources say Bennett’s only hope of survival is steering the Broncos to a grand final campaign this season.

An early departure from the finals race will convince Brisbane bosses to expedite a succession plan that will see Bennett jettisoned at the end of next year with a new coaching face installed for 2020.

Bennett turns 69 on January 1st. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

New chairman Karl Morris is refusing to speak publicly about Brisbane’s only premiership coach, prompting Bennett to take aim at Morris and White, saying the club needs clarity.

“From a personal point of view, I do (want some answers),” Bennett said. “I have to come to (press conferences), it’s compulsory for me to come every week and I have to answer these questions all the time.

“They (Broncos board members) don’t have to come to the meetings, they can avoid them, make no comments and all the stuff that goes with their role.

“I’m the one that is facing the music.”

The Courier-Mail understands Bennett has the support of two members on Brisbane’s five-person board – Tony Joseph and his former Broncos skipper Darren Lockyer.

The three other board members are Morris, Katie Bickford and News Corp-appointee Neil Monaghan.

Long-serving CEO White will also have influence on Bennett’s future via a personal presentation to the Broncos board.

Asked if a premiership this season will save him, Bennett said: “I don’t know if that will save me, I wouldn’t know if I’m here or not (in 2020), you have to ask the board.

Bennett is the greatest coach in Brisbane’s history. AAP Image/Dave Hunt.

“I’m not in a position where I can elaborate on my own future, it’s got to be someone else’s call and if the chairman or the CEO don’t want to make a call, we will just have to all wait.

“Me personally, I wish the speculation wasn’t here and would go away, but it won’t go away until we make a decision here. I understand that. I’m not sure if anyone else does, but I certainly do.”

Bennett believes he is doing a successful job at a Broncos club on the cusp of a fourth straight finals appearance and is keen to continue coaching beyond next year.

“If I wasn’t doing things right, I wouldn’t want to be here,” he said.

“I would give the opportunity to someone else to do it, but I feel we are doing a lot of things right.

“There’s nothing to suggest to me that I don’t want to go on (beyond 2019). Right now, that’s how I feel, it could change pretty quickly but I feel I want to coach and that’s what I do. I want to coach.

“I can’t answer your questions (about his Broncos future). We will have to be patient and wait until the board want to say something.”